


One More for the Road

by NatesMama



Series: Nobody's Fault But Mine [2]
Category: Bones (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-23
Updated: 2012-05-23
Packaged: 2017-11-05 20:39:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/410793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NatesMama/pseuds/NatesMama
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Part two of the Nobody's Fault But Mine series.</p>
            </blockquote>





	One More for the Road

FBI Assistant Deputy Director Seeley Booth walked confidently into the Four Seasons hotel, where the annual law enforcement conference was being held and stopped in the middle of the lobby. He looked around, still a little gob smacked by where his life had led him the last twenty months.

After he received the letter and book from Bones, he hadn't heard another word. And he hadn't expected to, which made the reality seem easier to deal with. He had wanted to begin looking for her again almost immediately, but after a few weeks of serious reflection he realized that in order to find her again, he had to really, truly let her go. Something he couldn't have imagined he would have been able to do until he'd read her words of hope in her letter and book dedication. As time went by, he thought of dating other women, and God knew he wasn't short on offers, but it felt…wrong, somehow. As if he was being unfaithful to her memory. He had said as much to Cam, who accused him of sounding like a widower still mourning the loss of his wife. She hadn't meant it unkindly, and Booth never took it that way…but it still seemed harsh. And so very, very true.

By silent agreement, he and Angela had stopped even discussing her, although he knew she was still getting monthly written updates by way of Max. Booth knew that if anything important happened, Angela would make sure he was informed, so he was content in the blind knowledge that Bones was okay and doing well.

Striding to the desk to check into the hotel, Booth couldn't help but let a smile cross his face. This place, with the ornate marble interior and gorgeous glass sky lights, was so far from where he started at the Bureau, it was almost ridiculous. Not that he was complaining. After he had decided not to partner with Dr. Edison, who had taken over at the Jeffersonian for Brennan, he was immediately offered a promotion. Seeking advice from his friends and family, taking the job seemed to be the best course of action. He didn't want to go out in the field without Bones, and he certainly didn't want to have another partner. She was the only partner he'd ever had, and he wanted it to stay that way.

After signing in, Booth grabbed his room cards, suitcase and garment bag and headed to the bank of elevators by the lounge. As he hit the button to indicate he was going up, his Blackberry pinged with an incoming text message. He was happily reading the text from Parker about his hockey team's win when the doors opened, and he barely looked as he stepped in and turned around to face the doors.

Hitting the button for his floor, Booth's attention returned to his phone as he thumbed through the pictures Rebecca had taken from his son's game. He never noticed that he wasn't alone in the elevator until the husky voice that had haunted his dreams for the last two years drifted to him across the confined space.

"Of all the gin joints in all the world…"

His head jerked up and his eyes locked on the other occupant in the car.

_Bones._

"Finally watched Casablanca, huh?" He surprised himself by sounding almost normal when he spoke.

Brennan smiled slightly, a flush spreading across her cheeks, making her look years younger. "Yes. My father bought me the DVD and insisted I watch it with him. It's a good movie. Sad ending, though."

Booth nodded. "Yeah. Sad endings are a fact of life. Not everyone gets their happy ending…even in movies."

She looked down nervously, biting her lower lip. "How have you been, Booth?"

"I've been alright. You?"

"Alright. I guess. Content, I suppose."

He nodded again, thoughtfully. "That's all you can really ask for from life, right?"

"Right."

The elevator dinged, signaling their arrival on Booth's floor. He picked up his luggage and moved to leave when she reached out and grabbed his sleeve.

"Please." She dropped his arm suddenly when he turned, eyebrows raised. "I would like it…I mean, would it be acceptable to have dinner, or a drink? Something, together?"

Booth tried to give off an air of indifference, but he knew that even she could see his delight at her question. He reached over and took one of her hands from where she was twisting them together nervously, and squeezed lightly.

"I'd like that, Temperance."

B&B

After an uneventful and boring day of meetings and lectures associated with every aspect of law enforcement, Booth was more than ready to sit down to a nice, quiet meal. He didn't allow the fact that the meal was being shared with Brennan make him nervous, but it did make him anxious. He took extra care with his appearance as he dressed, choosing a muted color for his tie and fastening the cuffs of his shirt with links she had given him for Christmas three years ago. He took one more look in the mirror by the door, and headed downstairs to L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon, the hotel's main restaurant, where he had made reservations earlier. Once seated at one of the elegant black and red tables, he ordered a Springbank on the rocks, which earned him an impressed nod from the waiter. When the drink was delivered, he inquired about a vegetarian menu, which the waiter was happy to provide along with their regular evening dinner menu. Booth tapped his fingers on the tabletop as he waited, unconcerned that Brennan had yet to appear. She was the one who asked to have dinner, and he knew she wouldn't back down from the invitation once extended. Besides…she'd seemed to almost need it, and he had to admit that he was feeling just as needy.

When he finally saw the maître de leading her across the restaurant, he tried desperately to keep his heart from beating out of his chest. Until the moment he had seen her, wearing a decidedly sexy navy blue silk wrap dress, he had been almost preternaturally calm. But once the reality hit him…that this was Bones, walking towards him, having dinner with him at her insistence, all bets were off.

He stood as she approached, and waited until she was seated before moving her chair forward slightly in both a gesture of politeness and an automatic, gentlemanly maneuver designed to give him a moment to calm down.

He hadn't counted on the dress being backless.

_Dammit, Bones._

Once seated, the waiter returned and took Brennan's drink order, and their agreed-upon choice of the kampachi as an appetizer, then disappeared again. They sat, looking at each other unabashedly, until finally Brennan broke the stalemate.

"I don't know if this is the right time to say this, but…" She looked at an area over his shoulder, avoiding eye contact.

"No time like the present, Temperance." He knew he was being slightly distant, but he needed to show her that she hadn't destroyed him or the man he used to be before her, and he didn't know how else to do that and still protect the parts of him that had survived.

She tried to mask the hurt that flashed in her eyes when he used her given name, but he caught it and immediately felt guilty. Softening his tone, he nudged her lightly. "Really. It's okay, you can say anything to me."

Nodding, she continued hesitantly. "I just…I'm sorry that things didn't work out between you and Hannah."

Booth wasn't surprised, not really. No matter what happened between them, no matter how much they both had changed, she was and always would be the same old Bones. Say it like it is, and damn the consequences. Strangely enough, he found that absurdly comforting after so many months of everyone walking on eggshells around him.

"Thank you. But it wasn't meant to be, so it turned out to be for the best. I'm better for having known her."

"I can't imagine you a better man than you already were, Booth. But I'm glad you're okay now." She wrapped her hand around his wrist where it rested on the table, but his reply was lost when the waiter returned to deliver their appetizer and take their dinner orders. Brennan was insanely touched that Booth had asked for a vegetarian menu for her, and she repaid the kindness by asking for the sommelier so she could order the wine for their dinners. She knew that, despite the macho, beer-drinking façade he put out to everyone, Booth loved a good wine with his meal, and she wanted to make sure he got the best to accompany his selection.

After the initial discomfort of the situation, they seemed to slip back into their old roles as best friends as if no time had passed. He teased her about her refusal to try his veal loin, and she lightly chided him about eating too much red meat. They shared a bottle of excellent wine and a selection of tarts for dessert, but opted out of the proffered after-dinner coffee.

Once Booth had signed for the bill, surprised that she didn't even put up a fight about it, he offered her his arm as they exited the restaurant and entered the hotel lobby.

They looked around for a moment, unsure of how to proceed. "Would you like to go for a walk? It's mild outside." Booth finally asked.

"Sure, that sounds nice." Brennan moved to follow him as he led them towards the doors.

Just as Booth reached for the door, Brennan pulled him back. He turned to look at her, and saw something in her eyes that he had never seen before. It stopped him cold.

"Do you mind if we pass on the walk and go upstairs instead?" There was no hesitation in her voice as she intertwined her fingers in his and pulled slightly.

This was one of those moments he knew he would look back on and think about for the rest of his life. By now, he had identified the look he'd seen in her eyes, and at least one part of him was instantly in agreement with what he knew she was suggesting.

Now, to get the rest of his body to catch up to his heart…

His lips were first to fall in line. "Your room or mine?"

Brennan released a breath and smiled wider. "Mine. I'm in the suites."

Booth grinned back and moved to pull her close, arm around her shoulders. "Lead the way."

They shared quick looks and long touches as they made their way to the elevators, then during the trip up to her room, and finally into the hallway that led to her suite. They stood outside the room, looking at each other intently, fingers still clasped as if waiting for a sign. Booth took the key card from her slack hand and slid it into the slot next to the door. When the panel beeped, he opened the door and backed into the room, pulling her, mesmerized, along with him.

When the door to the suite clicked shut, it was as if a starting bell had been rung. Brennan closed the distance between them and jumped into his arms, immediately taking his lips with hers and wrapping her legs around his waist. Booth grunted slightly from the impact, and then recovered nicely, moving to hold her against the wall so his hands could roam over her pliant body. Her sighs as he cupped her bottom were the most erotic thing he had ever heard, and he struggled to pull her dress off her shoulders, wanting to draw that sound out of her again and again. Once he had managed to get the soft, blue fabric to the edge of her collarbone, she released his neck and yanked her arms out of the sleeves, freeing her breasts and drawing a deep groan from Booth's throat. He wasted no time, bending his head to worship each exposed, taut nipple as he gently squeezed her torso closer to his, grinding his arousal into her already moving hips.

Neither said a word as she let him pull back, still supporting her with one arm as she helped him unsnap his slacks and lower his zipper. She looked up to his flushed face with a wicked grin and reached into his boxers, wrapping one slim hand around his hard penis and moving up and down slightly.

Booth tipped his head forward, resting it on her naked shoulder as she caressed him, letting his hand drift down and reach under her skirt, insanely turned on. Her arousal was hard to miss, especially since it seemed she had forgotten to wear panties.

"No…panty lines…" She whispered in response to his questioning look.

"Good choice…" He stopped and took a breath, hand hovering over her sex, waiting a beat while she pulled at his erection and moved him into the position she needed. He looked up from where they were about to join, wanting to make sure she knew what they were about to do.

Her eyes were clear and wide, and she gave him his answer with a command.

"Say it. Please, you haven't said it."

"I-"

"Please, Booth….I need to hear it. I want to hear it…it's been so long…"

He could never deny her anything, and especially not this. He moved his body to hers, entering her in one long stroke, the word she pled for falling from his lips in tandem with her satisfied moan.

"Bones…"

"Yessss…"

"Bones, I-" He bent forward and began kissing her neck, panting with the exertion and moaning with the sudden release of eight years of desire, love, guilt, trust, adoration, admiration and hurt. "Oh, God…Bones…"

The moved frantically, neither needing the finesse of a slower joining, only needing the other against them, around them, in them…her keening wail and his breathless release of her name, his name for her, the only sounds surrounding them. She locked her legs tighter around his waist and pulled him inside her as far as she could, her orgasm hitting her like a tsunami, pulling him over the edge with her as they clung to each other desperately.

Afterwards, she would remember feeling completely boneless. Her legs were cramping and her head was spinning…but it was as if every single bone in her body had turned to jelly. She rested her head on top of his, he dropped his to her breasts, heaving into them and trying not to drop her before he gained his own equilibrium. Finally, he was able to turn and carry her, stumbling slightly, to the master bedroom of the suite, placing her on the bed lightly and following her down. They lay side by side, breathing slowing, staring at the ceiling sightlessly.

Finally, Booth turned his head to look at Brennan just as she turned to look at him, and they both burst out laughing.

Once they'd recovered from their giggling fit, Booth turned on his side facing her and rested his head on his hand. "You okay, Bones?"

She mirrored his position and nodded. "Yes. I'm more than okay."

They smiled at one another for another moment before Booth pulled himself off the bed. "I don't know about you, but I could use a bath." He offered her his hand. "Want to join me?"

"Definitely." She took his hand and let him lead her to the massive bathroom, where he started the water on the huge bathtub, then began removing the rest of his clothing. Brennan followed suit with her dress, and soon they were settled in the steaming water, Brennan against the side of the tub cradling Booth between her long legs, which were wrapped around him. She idly slid a washcloth along his arms, chest and thighs while he tipped his head back and began nibbling lightly on her neck, moving to what he soon discovered was a very sensitive spot right below her ear, tonguing it softly while he trailed a hand under the water and down her thigh. He reached all the way behind him, where her most sensitive spot was snuggled up against him, and began stroking her with obvious intention. To her complete surprise and his, she came quickly and forcefully, gripping his hand between her legs and holding him in place, breathy moans trailing off as she rode his still-moving fingers.

Booth turned slightly and gave her a cocky grin, pulling her head down to kiss her, opening his mouth against hers and running his tongue along the inside of her mouth. "Feeling more relaxed now?" He asked as they separated.

"Mmmhmm. Thank you. I've never reached climax that fast….ever." Brennan smiled lazily and began to run her hands along his chest, feeling each muscle and lightly scratching a trail with her blunt nails. "But in order for me to reciprocate and relax you properly, we're going to have to get out of here."

"I can wait. This is nice, I don't want to move." Booth snuggled closer to her and lay back, loving the feel of her soft breasts against his hard muscles. Eventually, the water began to cool and they got out, toweling off and moving to the bedroom once again. Once Booth was seated on the edge of the bed, Brennan dropped to her knees between his and took his already-hardening penis in her hands, moving slowly up and down and reveling in the groans he was making at her ministrations. Without warning, she dipped her head and took him completely into her mouth, sucking lightly.

"Jesus, Bones!" Booth gasped in surprise and arousal, sliding his hands into her hair and holding on for dear life. Normally Brennan hated when a man grabbed her hair during oral sex, but Booth simply caressed her head in encouragement, whispering sweet words and gasping his appreciation without any forcefulness. It only served to turn her on.

Letting him slide out of her mouth, Brennan stood up and moved over him, pushing him back onto the bed fully and straddling him. Not content to be submissive, Booth wrapped his arms around her waist and flipped them so she was fully under him, and slid into her ready body, stopping only long enough to wrap her legs around his waist. He moved slowly and languidly, peppering her breasts with wet, open-mouthed kisses as he moved his hand to where they were joined and stimulated her, bringing her to another shaking, shuddering orgasm.

Brennan opened her eyes and took in the man moving above her. While she ran her hands up and down his back and squeezed his hips with her thighs, she contented herself with watching him in the throes of ultimate passion. As far as she was concerned, you could learn a lot about the basic nature of a man by how he made love. And nothing about how Booth made love surprised her. He was a giving, caring, generous lover…he cared more about her pleasure than his, and he made an effort to connect to her by drawing her in with his eyes, asking her to meet him halfway but just as willing to go all the way for her. Everything she knew to be true about him when he was upright and dressed applied in the bedroom as well, and being assured of that fact brought tears to her eyes.

Booth watched Brennan watching him, knowing that she was cataloguing his every move, facial expression and gesture in her never-ending quest for knowledge, but finding himself oddly turned on by that realization. With anyone else he would have felt like a bug under a microscope, but with Bones….he knew that this was how she made a decision, how she compiled her precious evidence. And he was happy to give her what she needed to decide whatever it was that she was deciding. Soon, however, he could feel the telltale signs of his own orgasm, and he wanted her to be right there with him, something that heightened his pleasure as well.

Leaning down to bury his head in her neck, he whispered erotic words into her ear, causing her to move quickly to the precipice, where he waited for her. With gasps, cries and whimpers, they fell together, holding each other tightly.

B&B

Except for an interview with a local radio station Brennan couldn't get out of, they spent the rest of the weekend in bed, unclothed and uninhibited. They chatted idly at times, lay in silence at other times, or slept wrapped around each other, neither content to be apart for even a few minutes. They bathed, ate and breathed together for almost 48 continuous hours, neither willing to begin the conversation that they were going to have to have when this was all over.

Finally, on Sunday night, as Brennan collapsed against Booth where he sat in the large chair overlooking Central Park, he pulled her close and whispered in her ear the words he had been studiously avoiding and she had been secretly dreading since this all began two days before.

"Stay with me…" He stroked her hair and ran a hand down her soft, damp back, drawing lazy circles along her spine. "Please don't leave again, Bones."

She sighed against his neck and stood up. "Booth…"

He stood as well and followed her into the bedroom. "Bones, we've been avoiding this all weekend. We haven't talked, not really anyway. All we've done is-"

"I know what we've been doing for the last two days, Booth! And right now…" She turned and looked out the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the park and sighed. "Now, it's over. Time to get back to the real world."

"The real world?" Booth stood looming behind her, still as naked as she was. "Bones, I hate to tell you, but this is the real world! This…" He pointed between the two of them, moving aside as she walked back into the living area. "this is reality! I love you, dammit!"

Brennan stopped midstride, frozen with one foot in front of the other, as if playing an x-rated version of Tag. "You what?"

He moved through the doorway so he was standing in front of her. "You heard me. I love you."

"I can't do this right now, Booth." She looked at her feet, studying her painted toenails as if they were bones on her exam table.

"Can't do what? Accept my love? Love me? What, Temperance? What can't you do?" He wanted to shake her, but he knew…he knew what she was feeling, and he would be damned if he was going to let her fear and insecurity make yet another bad decision for both of them.

"I can't move back to DC. Not yet, anyway."

"Do you love me?"

Her head snapped up. "Yes! You know I do!"

"Then what is the problem, Bones?"

"I-I just need more time."

He sighed, and then nodded in resignation. "How much more time?"

"What?" She turned her shocked eyes to him, unwilling to believe what she heard in his words and his voice.

Booth moved to the bedroom, forcing her to follow. He reached down and grabbed his bag that he had brought from his own room the day before and began pulling out clothes. As he dressed he spoke, deliberately and evenly.

"Okay, Temperance. Okay. I am going to do what I should have done almost three years ago, that night in front of the Hoover. I'm going to give you time." He pulled on his shirt, and then sat on the bed to put his shoes on. "I can fully admit that I pushed you that night. Yes, five years of patience might have paid off with any other woman, but you're not just any other woman, are you, Bones?" He stood and moved to pick up his odds and ends lying on the dresser, placing them in his suitcase with exaggerated care. Brennan noticed, with tightness in her chest, that his hands were shaking.

Booth answered his own question when she remained silent. "No, you're not. There's no one like you on this earth, and I am grateful for that. Since that horrible night, I've come to know some things about you that I didn't before. I know that you're not as strong as I thought." He pulled the zipper closed on his suitcase. "I know that you're more than willing to sacrifice your own happiness forever so that the people you care about can be happy." He picked up his case, grabbed his garment bag, and walked across the room to stand in front of her. "And I know…I  _know_  that you love me. And in the end, that's all that I care about." He set his luggage down and put his hands on her shoulders. "Three months, Bones. I am going to give you three months. I know that doesn't seem like a lot of time, but I've known you for almost eight years now, and I've loved you almost that long. I understand my fault in this, and I fully accept responsibility for everything I've done to screw this up. But I am done making mistakes when it comes to you, Bones."

"Booth…" she breathed. "Please, don't-"

Booth picked up his suitcases and kissed her on the forehead, closing his eyes for a moment and breathing her in. "I have to, Bones. You need more time; I'm giving it to you. I will wait. Three months."

Brennan moved to rest her forehead against his before he turned away. "I'm going to go back to my own room, Bones. Tomorrow, I will check out and head back to DC…where I will go back to work, have Parker on weekends, and hang out with my friends. And in three months from today, I will expect to see you on my doorstep. If you want this…if you want me, us…you'll be there. And if not-" His voice, even until then finally cracked slightly, betraying his true feelings. "If you're not there, I'll have your answer."

He looked at her once more, willing himself to ignore the tears that glistened in his eyes. "I'll see you, Bones." Then he turned, and walked out the door.


End file.
